Driving fluid dynamics forward Cooper Standard

DRIVING FLUID DYNAMICS FORWARD

Cooper Standard is a global leader in the supply of advanced systems and components for the automotive industry. The company continues to exceed expectations thanks to its commitment to innovative technologies and an on-going global investment programme. Philip Yorke reports.

Cooper Standard was founded in 1960 and is headquartered in Novi, Michigan, USA. Today the company is a global leader in the supply of automotive components such as fluid transfer hoses, fuel and brake lines, rubber and plastic sealing, emission control systems, and anti-vibration systems. Cooper Standard is committed to ecological and environmental improvement and its continuous research programme is designed to improve the company’s overall carbon footprint.

Cooper Standard’s extensive research and development department is clearly focused on research that is directed to improving its products and processes at all environmental levels. In addition, its new solutions offer advantages in ecological terms as well as in terms of better performance and more competitive pricing. Today Cooper Standard employs more than 27,000 people globally and operates in over 20 countries worldwide.

Focus on Asia

In February this year, Copper Standard announced the official opening of two new state-of-the-art facilities in China – one in Huai’an, Jiangsu province and another in Chongqing – thus demonstrating Cooper Standard’s commitment to the strategic importance of China and its vast automotive market. Focusing on China, Cooper Standard has accelerated its business development programme in the Asia Pacific area in recent years. Recently this was underscored by the establishment of a new Technical Centre in Shanghai, which includes a test Centre for FTS products. Cooper Standard also opened a new sealing facility in northeast China, as well as acquiring the majority stake in its existing joint venture with Chinese domestic supplier, Huayu Automotive.

These recent achievements demonstrate the company’s confidence in the Chinese auto market and its expansion capabilities. “The opening of our Huai’an and Chongqing facilities is a further testament to Cooper Standard’s commitment to our customers and the Chinese automotive market,” said Jeffrey Edwards, chairman and CEO, Cooper Standard. “Since 2012, we have more than doubled our investment in the area and are now pleased to employ more than 5200 people in 11 manufacturing and technical facilities across the country.”

This latest investment programme follows on from the company’s joint venture with INOAC, just over a year ago, which significantly expanded the reach of its Fluid Transfer Systems in the Asia Pacific area.

Meeting local market needs

In Europe Cooper Standard supplies all the major automotive OEMs and in each country is focused on fulfilling the needs of its local market. Germany hosts three of the company’s manufacturing sites, with one in Landau and two in Mannheim. Here it specialises in the manufacture of sealing units for the leading German automotive manufacturers and operates with a high level of integration with the Cooper Standard Group.

The company occupies a market leading position in Germany in terms of sealing products for European OEMs, thanks to its wide portfolio offering. Its operational excellence is firmly rooted in quality and lean initiatives, supply chain management and capacity optimisation. This operational excellence is accompanied by a real culture of innovation, which is driven by the company’s unique i3 innovation process.

Recently Cooper Standard presented its advanced product strategy for its i3 innovation process at the Hose Manufacturers Conference, held in Akron Ohio, where it presented a paper on ‘harnessing the Power of Innovation and Changing the Future of Hose Technology’. During the presentation the company also detailed its process for identifying and managing ground-breaking innovations and showcased its new generation ArmorHose® technology.

Innovative vibration control systems

Cooper Standard is a global leader in providing innovative antivibration systems, technologies and products to the world’s biggest automotive OEMs. The company provides advanced engineering solutions to mitigate vehicle noise vibration and harshness (NVH), and to enhance ride and handling characteristics. It is a top five global supplier of vibration control products for powertrain, chassis and suspension components. Specialising in complete powertrain and body mount systems, its reputation is backed by extensive engineering, analysis and world-class test capabilities to meet the most demanding applications for cost, mass and performance.

All the company’s anti-vibration products are developed using a cost-effective, technology-focused approach, with a focus on providing system solutions to meet the most demanding customer requirements and vehicle specific characteristics, by linking technology to vehicle performance and cost considerations.

Growth in new markets

Cooper Standard continues to see strong growth within its nontraditional markets. These are markets that are adjacent to the light vehicle sector, as well as in other key areas, such as commercial vehicles, off-highway, power sports, marine, construction and other speciality segments. This growth creates an excellent opportunity for the company to leverage its technical capabilities in order to provide more solutions to customers outside the automotive OEM market. n

For further details of Cooper Standard’s innovative automotive products and services visit: www.cooperstandard.com